back up the lemoniscious bandwagon!

Thank you, Sarah! She sent me the "missing" photos of the lemon coconut chiffon cake adventure.
This was something I learned from my mother: if the cake (or whatever) doesn't turn out as planned, then serve it covered with something yummy (chocolate, whipped cream, ice cream, whatever). In this case the chiffon cake "fell" -- I think because of the altitude. I learned that I need to cook this cake at a higher temperature, for a shorter period of time. So in this case, I drizzled a lemon glaze on it, and garnished it with toasted coconut (which was not part of the recipe). Beautiful! (And tasty, too.)

Claire rocks out

Claire enjoyed Stella's performances, too.

Stella the future rock star

The super-talented Stella entertained us with vocals & drums. Although Tom is playing the drums on this one, he accompanied her on the "-tar" for most her her numbers.

lemon extravaganza continues

Chic, Marlo, Stella & Claire came for dinner last night. So what did I make? Of course -- lemon cake. Mmmm, lemons!

has she taught him nothing?!

It amazes me that Sable remembers Sarah & Erik. But clearly she does -- she's willing to put up with a LOT more from them than she would a stranger. As evidenced by exhibit A....

slushing

We had the unusual event of 3 solid days of rain (lucky for Sarah & Erik!). This produced quite a bit of wet, spring-snow in the foothills. As soon as the rain stopped, we headed out to enjoy Eldorado Canyon State Park. It was so warm that the snow was melting FAST. Talk about slush! But it was really gorgeous...

all things lemon

Sarah and Erik brought us a big bag of home-grown Meyer lemons. They are the BEST (and the only lemons we use for lemoncello). So I had a mission: make lots of lemon treats.
My first effort was a tart. After Tom saved the pastry dough (I'm not very good with pastry dough...) the tart came out well. It didn't take too long for the 4 of us to polish off the tart, so in the middle of the week I tackled a lemon-coconut chiffon cake. I know I took pictures -- I think maybe Sarah has them? Anyways, I had some trouble with the chiffon cake -- I think because of the altitude here. But it still tasted great.
My last project was an Ina Garten favorite. Except that I substituted lemon for orange... and made a Lemon Chocolate Chunk cake with Chocolate Ganache. Mmmmmm..... ganache. (Ganache, ganache, ganache. It just sounds good, doesn't it?) I think this was the week's dessert-winner. It was intensely lemon, which was a perfect contrast to the rich chocolate.

tasty treats

The top photo was a yummy Tom-creation: mushrooms stuffed with Chorizo and Cotija cheese, served with couscous & tomatoes. The middle photo was one of our appetizers from the Boulderado: seared salmon on a potato-cake (I think; it was Tom's...). The last photo was a group effort from later in the week: roasted vegetables & homemade Andouille sausage. Mmmm.

refill, please!

In addition to the keg of Avery IPA in the basement, we enjoyed some afternoons/evenings out. We thoroughly enjoyed the Happy Hour at the Boulderado: half price drinks & appetizers daily from 5p-7p, with a really great jazz trio. We played games all afternoon at the Pump House on a rainy afternoon...

fun & games

Sarah & Erik were just here for a 10-day visit. No one even had an eye poked out!

say hello to my little friend

It's that time again. Today was my first day

on the water for 2009. My timing was good. lots of hungry

trout, warm sunny day, five other people on the whole lake,

I could have stayed all day. and I did.

Tom & Scott -- trading eights

This week, Tom's cousin, Scott, was here from Phoenix. What a treat! Scott is a great drummer -- in fact, he was Tom's first drum teacher.

So Tom set up two kits, and they played for a while... it was awesome. We can't wait for Scott to return!

Tom's last day of boarding for the season?

We didn't have a lot of snow this winter... until 2 weeks ago. At the end of March, we got 10 inches (in about 4 hours). We've had a couple of smaller storms since then. Altogether, these storms have breathed new life into the ski/resort business.
Tom went snow-boarding on Monday -- and I'm guessing from his photos, it was a pretty awesome day.